(RNS) — Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, that state’s controversial Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, has a long record as a religious right zealot.

Moore has been suspended twice from the state Supreme Court, for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments statue from state grounds and for refusing to obey the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriages.​Because of his beliefs and actions, Moore has been labeled a theocrat. But I prefer a different and more precise term — “Christocrat” — to describe Moore and other politicians who share similar views.​